When Lisa Miller fled the country with her daughter Isabella Jenkins-Miller, I wondered how long it would be before we saw either of them. But in April of this year progress was made on the case. The FBI reported that it had determined that Miller had fled to Nicaragua and had been assisted there by Mennonite missionaries.

When Timothy (“Timo”) Miller, the Mennonite missionary, was arrested for for his role in providing plane tickets and shelter for Lisa Miller, it was noted that he was not related. The last name similarity was just coincidental. And I was willing to buy it.

A Virginia man who federal prosecutors say helped a woman leave the country with her daughter so she wouldn’t have to turn custody of the girl over to her former lesbian partner surrendered Tuesday to face charges he aided in international parental kidnapping.

A complaint unsealed Tuesday said Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., arranged passage for Lisa Miller to travel to Canada before flying with her daughter in September 2009 to Nicaragua, where she was sheltered for a time by a group of Mennonite missionaries.

Okay. I’m sorry. That’s just too many Millers to be coincidental.

So what’s going on here? I have a hypothesis. And if I’m right, it was rather clever of Lisa’s supporters.

If you want to sneak someone out of the country, you want to be inconspicuous. You want to raise as little attention as possible. But if you buy tickets for someone of the same name, it raises no attention. And if you are a Mennonite missionary, it seems natural that someone with your last name comes visiting. By being assisted by other people named Miller, Lisa could disappear.

Now I can’t claim that there’s a Millerial conspiracy (sorry, Millerite was already taken). But if so, then you have to wonder just how Lisa Miller came in contact with these other non-related Millers. One would almost have to have access to a large data base from which to solicit people named Miller for their support.

Ah no. First off – Miller is an incredibly common name – 7th on the list in fact (hell I deal with two other non-related “Shea’s” on a weekly basis)

Second off – not difficult to leave the US. Even you can do it. Leave West Hollywood (I know! difficult!), drive south, and enter Mexico. Did anyone stop you and ask for your ID or passport? No? Didn’t think so. From there – you can pretty much go anywhere you want. Even if you went the flight route – its doubtful Lisa Miller and her daughter were on any lists that would be flagged when arranging a flight out.

We need real reporting and research on this mess in the mass media – not quaint conspiracy theories.

I always look for updates on this on this site. Every time I’m disappointed that it’s not the time I read this woman has been caught. I know the other mother’s relationship with the daughter might never be the same again, but maybe at least she’ll get to visit the kid who has been taken away from her for so many years.

The only thing that matters is that she gets caught. 2 years and no sight of them? Is the FBI actually bothering? If this was the child of straight people not only would they have been found, but the kidnapper sentenced already!

I am Mennonite. I am gay. Miller is an extremely common Mennonite/Amish name. Entirely likely that they are not related….but with Mennonites you will keep having the same common surnames popping up all the time. BTW not all Mennonite congregations are this conservative or anti gay. The tucson congregation is entirely different tot he point of accepting me and my partner on equal status

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